Beehive.



.No. 855,175. PATENTED MAY 28, 1907.

0. L. HERSHISER.

BEEHIVE. nrupumz; nun SEPT.28,'1904.

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OREL L. HERSHISER, OF BUFFALO, NEWV YORK.

BEEHIVE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 28, 1907.

Application filed September 28,1904. Serial No. 226,385.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, OREL L. HERsHIsER, a citizen of the United States,residing at the city of Buffalo, county of Erie, State of New York, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Beehives, of which thefollowing is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in bee hives, and particularly toimprovements in the bottom board and stand for such bee hives.

The objects of this invention are, first, to provide a better and saferbee hive for use in wintering bees in cellars or other specialrepositories. Second, to provide a bee hive in which it is possible toaccomplish the safe and easy moving and shipping of bees and thus makemigratory bee keeping an easy success. Third,'to provide a structurewith an improved means of regulating the size of the entrance to suit avarying temperature and varying size of colony, and to provide anentrance into which rain and sleet cannot beat and into which thedrifting of snow is reduced to the minimum; and an entrance which willnot clog with dead bees, and one from which the bees of the colony mayremove the dead bees without exposure to the outside weather whenwintering bees out of doors. Fourth, to provide a hive in which it ispossible to bring the bees under the absolute control of the apiarist,should they at tempt to engage in robbing. Fifth, to provide a ready andexpeditious means of preventing the melting down of the combs of a hiveand the consequent ruin of the'colony during periods of intense heat orin hot climates.

Further objects, and objects relating to details of construction willappear in the detailed description to follow.

I accomplish the objects of my invention by the devices and meansdescribed in the following specification.

The invention is clearly defined and pointed out in the claims.

A structure embodying the features of my invention is fully illustratedin the accompanying drawing forming a part of this specification, inwhich,

Figure l is a perspective view of a hive embodying the features of myinvention, with the alighting board in position, and the entrance open.Fig. 2 is a longitudinal sectional elevation through a bee hive on aline corresponding to line 2-2- of Fig. 3, showing the relation of thevarious parts, with the bottom and alighting boards lowered a littlebelow normal position for ordinary outdoor use, the normal positionbeing shown by dotted lines. Fig. 3 is a 1 transverse sectionalelevation on line 33 of Fig. 2, showing details of construction of thebottom board and its adjustable bail support. Fig. 4 is a transversesectional elevation on line 44: of Fig. 2 showing the flexible wiresupport for the rear -end of the bottom board. Fig. 5 is a detailsectional view of the lower portion of a hive, on line 22 of Fig. 3,corresponding ex actly to the lower portion of Fig. 2, showing thenormal position for wintering bees, the bottom board being dropped downto the bottom of the hive stand, and the entrance closed. Fig. 6 is adetail plan view showing the method of coupling the alighting board tothe bottom board.

In the drawings, the sectional view are taken looking in the directionof the little arrows at the ends of the section lines and similarletters of reference refer to similar parts throughout the severalviews.

Referring to the lettered parts of the drawing, A is the base or standon which the main hive orhive proper A rests. The hive proper above thisstand A is of any desired construction. This stand or bottom A is openat the sides which are covered with wire screen as a and is open at thefront, the front board B being removable. This base is open at the topand bottom and is provided with cross pieces A on its under side. Thecleats into which the bail D is hinged serve as a support for theadjustable bottom-board C, so that when the same is placed in its lowestposition and the front-board inserted, the hive is adjusted for thewintering of bees in the cellar or for any of the purposes Where it isdesirable to confine them. Toward the rear end of the hive, a flexiblespring support D is provided for the rear end of the bottom board C whenit is in its upper position. When the bottom board C is in its upperposition, the hive proper is in condition for ordinary outdoor use. Therear end of the bottom-board is then against the inside rear end of thebase or stand and is held snugly against the shoulder formed by thecleats at or toward the inside upper edges of the sides and rear end ofsaid base or stand, by the flexible wire spring D and the bail-likesupport D. The front-board B is attached to the bottom-board C, as andfor an alighting board, supported in the desired inclined position bymeans of the cleat B.

The front end of the bottom board C is supported in an elevated positionby'the upwardly projecting bail D which is pivoted on the side of thebase toward their lower edges. The bail D engages the pin C on the underside of the bottom board C to hold it in a partially elevated positionwhen an enlarged entrance to the hive is desired. By adjusting thisbail, the size of the entrance opening is controlled. The front board Bof the base is removable and has a strip B on the inside thereof alittle distance from the bottom, so that when the bottom board C isdropped down into the bottom of the base A and the front board isinserted, this projection B retains the bottom board securely inposition, the rear end of the bottom board projecting under a suitablecleat, as clearly appears in Fig. 5. When the adjustment is, as appearsin Fig. 5, the base is closedwith the exception of the screen a on eachside. This screen allows the free circulation of air up through or intothe hive. An important feature in this connection is that thebottomboard 0 fits, into the box-like base so loosely that there willnever be any trouble by reason of swelling. It may be made as much asone-half inch narrower than the inside width of this box-like stand. Itwill not, therefore, become immovable or hard to operate, as it willnever bind at the sides, due to a swelling of the material. Again, thecleats at the upper inside margin of the top side pieces and rear endform a shoulder against which the bottom-board is pressed, thus makingit be tight and obtaining a closer fit than could be secured in anyother way. Moreover, the bees cannot get at the edges of the bottomboard to propolize or glue them. The result is that it is impossible forthe bottom-board to become fixed and immovable by reason of swelling ofthe material or from the presence of propolis; but, onthe contrary, italways works freely and easily. All previous attempts of which I amaware, to make a bottom-board detachable or tilting or removable fromthe frame in which it Works have failed because of the propolis orbee-glue or because of the swelling of the parts.

The front board Bis provided with a pair of loops 1) (see Fig. 6) whichare ada ted to engage hooks b on the front of the ottom board C so thatwhen the hive is in ordinary outdoor use, this board B is withdrawn fromthe front of the base and hooked on the front of the bottom board andserves as an alighting board for the bees.

I have described and illustrated this structure in detail in the formwhich seems to be the most practical but I desire to state that thestructure is capable of great variation in its details without departingfrom the spirit of my invention. I, however, desire to claim the devicespecifically as well as broadly and have therefore described them indetail. That the uses of my invention may clearly appear, I will atlength, state the methods adopted.

\Vhen bees are placed in the cellar or SP6". cial repositories in lieuthereof, it is the usual custom to raise the hive at the front an inchor more from the bottom board securing it in this position by means ofblocks arranged between the bottom of the hive and the top of the bottomboard at each of the front corners. Sometimes the bottom board isremoved entirely and the hives are placed in rows in the cellar with aspace slightly less than the width of the hive between each two hives inthe row. The second tier of hives is placed above this tier or coursewith the bottom over the open space, the hives breaking joints with thehives below, and so on up as high as it is desired or convenient to go.This arrangement is for the purpose of providing needed ventilation.I-Iowever, bees placed in the cellar in this manner very often eave thecluster and their hives in considerable numbers as they frequentlybecome uneasy as the result of long confinement or in suflicientventilation. Bees that leave their cluster or hives in the cellar aresure to die on the cellar floor, as it is impossible for them to returnto their hives in the darkness and confusion. The cellar or repositorythus becomes strewn with dead bees and the colo nies are weakened inproportion to. such losses, often resulting in their death or therendering of them so weak as to make them useless. By means of myinvention, each colony has ample ventilation when the hive is arrangedas indicated in Fig. 5, because air enters through the screens a at thesides. The bees are unable, with my invention, to go so far away fromthe cluster that they cannot return and the colony, as a consequence,not meeting with the loss due to the bees leaving the cluster andbecoming destroyed, are in a very strong and healthy conditi on in thespring and are very much superior after being 'wintered properly than bythe old method referred to.

In the moving of the bees my invention permits of expeditious closingand opening of the hives to confine the bees or admit them to flight asthe case may be, when the hive is ar ranged as in Fig. 5, it only beingnecessary to draw out the front board by taking hold of the ring orhandle, drawing the bottom for ward, raising it up and sliding it backinto position above the yielding spring D and swinging the bail D upunder it, holding it firmly against the shoulder formed by the cleats ator near the upper inside edges of the rear and sides of the stand, andthen hooking the front board B on the hooks B by the loop I). This makesit possible to expeditiously move the bees to the cellar in the fall,

or from the cellar in the spring and moving the bees to out apiaries andreturning them therefrom, or shipping bees long distances by freight,express or otherwise. This handling, moving and shipping of bees is donewith absolute safety from stings to the operatives employees oftransportation companies, and

horses, and also in perfect safety to the bees from any danger ofoverheating or suffocating or the melting down of their combs becausethe ample room in the box-like stand beneath the hive proper, abundantlyventilated, enables them to keep in perfect condition. It will,therefore, be seen that my invention renders migratory beekeepingentirely practicable by giving safety to the bees and safety tooperatives and horses which may be employed for drawing the bees about.Further, when bees are removed from the cellar in the spring, theyfrequently become aroused, and if allowed their freedom, will fly aboutsometimes furiously stinging the operatives, and in trying to return totheir hives, they frequently become confused and mixed with the bees ofother hives, thus causing some hives to become very strong and others soweak as to be worthless. This state of affairs frequently results in therobbing and fighting among the bees to the great loss of the apiarist.It is obvious that my invention enables the apiarist to perfectlycontrol bees so that they may be placed on their stands in safety andallowed to remain until settled in the evening, when all of the hivesmay be quietly adjusted and all allowed to commence flying the next daytogether when there will be no confusion.

In the spring, when the colonies of bees are at their lowest numericalstrength, it is often desirable to contract the entrance to the hive inorder to conserve the heat, and at other seasons of the year,contraction of the entrance is desirable if the colony is small or ifthe bees are disposed to rob. My invention allows of the greatestpossible latitude in the regulation of the size of the entrance. Whenthe bottom board is placed in its normal position for summer use,fitting closely to the rear end of the stand and against the shoulder atthe rear end and sides, the entrance is sufiiciently large for allcolonies under ordinary conditions. WVhenever it is desirable tocontract the entrance to the hive, it may be done by simply drawing thebottom board forward until the desired size of entrance is obtained. Anotch may be cut in one corner of the bottom-board and the latter maythen be drawn forward until the entrance is entirely closed, except thenotch, thus adjusting it to the flight of such small number of bees asis desired. The adjustment of the bail to the rear enlarges the entranceopening. By use of this adjustment, the entrance may be enlarged asdesired to the extent of the whole of the front opening to the stand. A

fective control of the entrance to the hive so that the hive can beentirely closed, as for cellar wintering, and the bees left confineduntil night fall or until the danger of robbing is past. Also, in hotclimates where bees are extensively kept, the temperature often rises tosuch a degree as to melt down the combs in the hives causing a greatloss to the apiarist in that way. Bees are likely at such times toengage in wholesale robbery. Apiaries have been practically ruined inthis way. Abundance of free ventilation such as can be readily affordedby lowering the bottom board to the position when preparing the hivesfor moving or cellar wintering, leaving the front entirely open,allowing the air to circulate freely through the sides and front andunder the cluster, will provide the greatest relief possible in such anemergency.

I have described the use of my device very fully and the reason for allof its details thus clearly appears.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is:

1. In a bee hive, the combination of the hive body A; of a base or standA open at its top and bottom and at each side, and at the front, withscreens a for the side openings; a bottom board C adjustable up and downand forward and back within the stand A; cleats across the front andrear under sides of the bottom-board, the front cleat being beveledupward and backward to conform to a like bevel on the upper front end ofthe bottom-board to provide a suitable entrance to the hive body; anelastic wire support D for the rear end 'of the bottom board when in itsupper position; an adjustable bail-like support D pivoted toward thelower edges of the side walls of the stand A, and positioned to swing upagainst the under side of the bottom board for adjusting the same; aremovable front board B for the stand, with cleat B secured to its innerside, arranged to project inwardly and lock the bottom board in itslower position; loops 1) on the front board B, and hooks b on the frontof the bottom board C for engaging the same, all coacting substantiallyas described and for the purpose specified.

2. In a bee hive, the combination of the hive body A; the base or standA, open at top and bottom and each side, and provided with a removablefront board, adapted to be used as an alighting board; screens for theside openings of said stand; an adjustable bottom board with suitablesupports for holding it in 'an elevated position in the upper part ofthe base or stand, and cleats for supporting it in its lower position,and connections on the front board for detachably securing it to thebottom board, for permit ting it to be inserted into the front of thestand, coacting for the purpose specified.

3. In a bee hive, the combination with the hive body of a base or standbeneath the same; an adjustable bottom board adjustable up and downwithin the base or stand for opening the hive body varying degrees;openings through the side of the stand or base with suitable screen overthe same, to facilitate ventilation within the hive; a removable frontboard in the base, adapted to be connected .to the bottom board to serveas an alighting board when required, coacting for the purpose specified.

4. In a bee hive, the combination of the hive body; a box-like base orstand beneath the same; a front-board for closing the front; abottom-board for closing the bottom; and lateral openings covered withscreen to confine the bees within a suitable inclosure, for the purposespecified.

5. In a bee hive, the combination of the hive body; a box-like base orstand with open sides covered with screen and a bottomboard for the bodyof the hive adjustable up and down and forward and back within thebox-like base, for the purpose specified.

6. In a bee hive, the combination of a hive body; a box-like standbeneath the same open at its front with suitable inside cleats at thetop; a yielding support D provided at the rear of the inside of the box;a bail-like support D toward the front; a bottom board adapted to reston said supports; and an alighting board having a separable hingeconnection to the front end of the bottom board, whereby the bottomboard is adjustable to vary the size of the entrance by moving the sameforward and back, coacting for the purpose specified.

7. In a bee hive, the combination of a hive body; a box-like basebeneath the same with screen side openings; a removable front board withseparable hinges on the front board for engaging it to the bottom boardwhereby the front board can be used as an alighting board, coacting asspecified.

8. In a bee hive, the combination of a hive body; a box-like basebeneath the same; a removable front board with separable hinges on thefront board for engaging it to the bottom board whereby the front boardcan be used as an alighting board, co-acting as specified.

9. In a bee hive, the combination of a hive body; a box like stand witha removable front board with a cleat on its inner side; a detachablebottom board arranged to be locked in its bottom position by the cleaton said front board, for the purpose specified.

10. In a bee hive, the combination of a hive body; a box-like base orstand; a re* movable bottom board and a yielding wire support D for therear end of the bottom board and a bail like support for the front endof the bottom board.

11. In a bee hive, the combination of a 'hive body; a boX like stand orbase, a removable bottom and a support for the rear end of the bottomboard and a bail like support for the front end of the bottom board.

12. In a bee hive, the combination of a hive body; a box-like base, thebottom board adjustable therein; cleats at the bottom for retaining thebottom board and a cleat a little above the bottom board for bracing thesame when adjusted to its lower position.

13. In a bee hive, the combination of a hive body; a suitable base orstand; an adjustable bottom board and an adjustable alighting board witha separable hinge for attachment to the front of the bottom board.

14. In a bee hive, the combination ofa hive body; a suitable base orstand; a bottom board adjustable back and forth beneath the same; and analighting board detachably hinged to the front of the bottom board,whereby the entrance to the hive can be adjusted by merely drawing thealighting board forward, for the purpose specified.

15. In a bee hive, the combination of a hive body; a box-like base witha bottom-- board for the hive adjustable in said base; cleats at thelower inside margin of the sides for retainin the botton1-board,-a cleaton the inside 0 the front-board, and a cleat at the inside rear of saidbox-like base, properly placed for bracing thesame when adjusted p0 ditslower position, for the purpose speci- 16. In a bee hive, thecombination of a box-like base with an opening through the front, and abar across the top; cleats around the inside upper portion of saidbox-like base; a bottom-board adjustable within the boxlike base,fitting against the said cleats and adjustable back and forth toregulate the entrance opening between the front and the top front bar;and an alighting-board connected to the front of said top-board, for thepurpose specified. 17. In a bee hive, the combination of a box-like basewith an opening through the front and a bar across the top; cleatsaround the inside upper portion of said box-like base; a bottom boardadjustable within the box-like base, fitting against the said cleats andadjustable back and forth to regulate the entrance opening between thefront and the top front bar, for the purpose specified.

18. The combination of a bee hive; a box- IIO like base; an adjustablebottom-board within the same, somewhat shorter than the inside dimensionfrom front to rear of the said box; a cleat underneath the front of saidbottom-board, the said bottom-board and cleat beneath the same beingbeveled to provide a suitable entrance to the hive body when adjustedfor ordinary outdoor use, for the purpose specified.

19. The combination of a bee hive; a box like base; an adjustablebottom-board within the same, somewhat shorter than the inside dimensionfrom front to rear of the said boX,

. for the purpose specified.

20. The combination of a bee-hive with a box-like base; cleats at thetop and inside of the same; a bottom-board loosely fitting into the boXwith means of clamping it adjustably against the underside of the saidcleats, for the purpose specified. 21. The combination of a bee hivewith a box-like base; cleats at the top and inside of the same; abottom-board loosely fitting into the said boX, with means of clampingit against the underside of the said cleats, for the purpose specified.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and seal in the presenceof two witnesses.

OREL L. HERSHISER.

